Harlam Renaissance https://www.britannica.com/event/Harlem-Renaissance-American- literature-and-art/Poetry

Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming (c Harlem Renaissance, a blossoming (c. 1918–37) of African American culture, particularly in the creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history While the renaissance was not confined to the Harlem district of New York City, Harlem attracted a remarkable concentration of intellect and talent and served as the symbolic capital of this cultural awakening.

The social foundations of this movement included: the Great Migration of African Americans from rural to urban spaces and from South to North; dramatically rising levels of literacy; the creation of national organizations dedicated to pressing African American civil rights, “uplifting” the race, and opening socioeconomic opportunities; developing race pride, including pan-African sensibilities and programs. Black exiles and expatriates from the Caribbean and Africa crossed paths in metropoles such as New York City and Paris after World War I and had an invigorating influence on each other

As its symbolic capital, Harlem was a catalystfor artistic experimentation and a highly popular nightlife destination. Its location in the communications capital of North America helped give the “New Negroes” visibility and opportunities for publication not evident elsewhere. Located just north of Central Park, Harlem was a formerly white residential district that by the early 1920s was becoming virtually a black city within the borough of Manhattan.

Art  Early in the 20th century, European avant-garde artists had drawn inspiration from African masks as they broke from realistic representational styles toward abstraction in painting and sculpture. The prestige of such experiments caused African American intellectuals to look on their African heritage with new eyes and in many cases with a desire to reconnect with a heritage long despised or misunderstood by both whites and blacks.

Once associated with brothels and traveling circuses, jazz gained respectability as a form of high art. Moreover, dance forms associated with jazz, most famously the Charleston (also a product of the 1920s) and tap dance, became international fads as a result of hugely popular all-black musical revues. The popularity of jazz among whites helped spark a “Negro Vogue” in cities such as New York and Paris in the mid- to late 1920s.

The international appeal of jazz and its connection to common black life, accompanied by the sheer virtuosity of its musicians, encouraged black intellectuals in other fields to turn increasingly to specifically “Negro” aesthetic forms as a basis for innovation and self-expression. The tendency appeared in concert music, choral programs, and Broadway musicals as well as literature. In the 1920s, black-produced shows came to Broadway again and again, and many white-produced shows featured black casts Important new publishing houses opened their doors to black authors

some black leaders hoped that achievement in the arts would help revolutionize race relations while enhancing blacks’ understanding of themselves as a people.